The Connected Discourses of the Buddha

by Bhikkhu Bodhi

  347 Pāda c: Na c’ atthi te dutiyā vaṇṇadhātu. I translate freely in accordance with the gloss of Spk: “There is no second beauty element like your beauty element; there is no other bhikkhunı̄ similar to you.” A pun on the bhikkhunı̄’s name is probably intended. Se and Ee1 & 2 include an additional pāda between pādas c and d, idh’ āgatā tādisikā bhaveyyum, absent in Be and Thı̄ 230. This seems to me a scribal error, as it is identical with pāda b of the next verse, where it fits.

  348 Spk explains pādas ab as if they meant: “Though a hundred thousand rogues might come here, they would be treated just like you in that they would get no intimacy or affection.” I translate, however, in accordance with the apparent sense, which also can claim support from the gloss of Thı̄-a on Thı̄ 231.

  349 The iddhipādā, “bases for spiritual power,” are the supporting conditions for the exercise of the iddhi or supernormal powers described in the previous verse. See 51:11.

  350 Cālā, Upacālā, and Sı̄supacālā—whose verses appear in 5:6-8 respectively—were the younger sisters of Sāriputta, in descending order of age. Their verses are at Thı̄ 182-88, 189-95, and 196-203. However, not only is the correspondence between the two collections fragmentary, but the ascriptions of authorship also differ. Cālā’s v. 537 corresponds to Thı̄ 191, and v. 538 is reflected obscurely in Thı̄ 192, both of which are there ascribed to Upacālā. Upacālā’s vv. 540-43 correspond to Thı̄ 197, 198, 200, and 201, there ascribed to Sı̄supacālā. And Sı̄supacālā’s vv. 544-46 correspond to Thı̄ 183-85, but there are ascribed to Cālā.

  351 In pāda b I read phussati with Be, Se, and Ee2, as against Ee1 passati.

  352 On pādas ab, see n. 345.

  353 This verse alludes to five of the six sense-sphere heavens. Only the lowest plane, the heaven of the Four Great Kings, is not mentioned.

  354 In pāda a, I read ajalitam with Se. Be apajjalitam, though hypermetrical, gives the same sense. Ee1 & 2 acalitam, apparently derived from SS, would mean “unshaken.”

  355 Pāsaṇḍa, in pāda c, refers to the “heretical” systems outside the Buddha’s dispensation. I render it, inadequately, as “creed.” Spk explains the word derivation by way of “folk etymology”: “They are called pāsaṇḍas because they lay out a snare (Be: pāsam ḍenti; Se: pāsam oḍḍenti); the meaning is that they throw out the snare of views among the minds of beings. But the Buddha’s dispensation frees one from the snare, so it is not called a pāsaṇḍa; the pāsaṇḍas are found only outside the dispensation.” MW defines pāṣaṇḍa as“a heretic … anyone who falsely assumes the characteristics of an orthodox Hindu, a Jaina, a Buddhist, etc.; a false doctrine, heresy.”

  356 Spk explains vimutto upadhisaṅkhaye in pāda d thus: “He is liberated into Nibbāna, known as the extinction of acquisitions, as object.” The expression is also at MN I 454,3-4 and II 260,22-23. Spk-pṭ defines “the end of all kamma” (sabbakammakkhaya ) as arahantship and “the extinction of acquisitions” as Nibbāna. See too 4:25 and n. 324.

  357 There is no way to determine whether this bhikkhunı̄ is identical with Āḷavikā; see n. 331. The verses do not appear in Thı̄.

  358 Spk: Both puppet (bimba) here, and misery (agha) at v. 549b, refer to individual existence (attabhāva), in the latter case because individual existence is a foundation for suffering.The philosophers of the Buddha’s time were divided on the question whether suffering is created by oneself (attakata) or by another (parakata). The former was the position of the eternalists, who held there is a permanent self which transmigrates from life to life reaping the fruits of its own deeds. The latter was the position of the annihilationists, who held that a being is annihilated at death and nothing survives, so that one’s share of suffering and happiness is due entirely to external conditions. See the debates recorded at 12:17, 18, 24, 25.

  359 One key to the interpretation of Selā’s reply is AN I 223-24, where it is said that kamma is the field, consciousness the seed, and craving the moisture, for the production of future renewed existence. The cause (hetu), then, is the kammically formative consciousness accompanied by ignorance and craving. When that dissolves through the elimination of ignorance and craving there is no production of aggregates, elements, and sense bases in a future life. The imagery of seeds and vegetation recurs at 22:54, which also helps to illuminate these verses.

  360 Spk provides no personal identification, and no verses in her name have come down in Thı̄.

  361 The simile of the chariot is elaborated at Mil 27-28, which quotes the previous verse. Vism 593,18-19 (Ppn 18:28) also quotes these two verses to confirm that “there is no being apart from name-and-form.” Vv. 553-54 are quoted at Abhidh-k-bh pp. 465-66, ascribed to the arahant nun Śailā (= Selā); see Enomoto, CSCS, p. 42.In v. 555 suffering signifies the inherent unsatisfactoriness of the five aggregates (pañcakkhandhadukkha), which is identical with the heap of sheer formations (suddhasaṅkhārapuñja ) in v. 553c. See too 12:15: “What arises is only suffering arising, what ceases is only suffering ceasing.”

  6. Brahmasamyutta

  362 The incident is also recorded at Vin I 4-7 and MN I 167-169, and at DN II 36-40 with the Buddha Vipassı̄ and Mahābrahmā as the speakers. Spk assigns the incident to the eighth week after the enlightenment. A BHS parallel at Mvu III 314-19, considerably more ornate, records several variant traditions of the encounter, more or less corresponding with the Pāli version; see Jones, 3:302-9.

  363 Spk explains ālaya objectively as the five cords of sensual pleasure, called “adhesions” because it is these to which beings adhere; and again, subjectively, as the 108 mental examinations driven by craving (taṇhāvicaritāni; see AN II 212,8-213,2), since it is these that adhere to their objects.

  364 Spk: All these terms are synonyms for Nibbāna. For contingent upon that (tam āgamma), all the vacillations of formations become still and calm down; all acquisitions are relinquished; all cravings are destroyed; all lustful defilements fade away; and all suffering ceases. Spk-pṭ: Contingent upon that: in dependence upon that, because it is the object condition for the noble path.

  365 The exact meaning of anacchariyā is uncertain. Spk (along with other commentaries) offers only a verbal resolution, which is hardly a semantic solution: Anacchariyā ti anuacchariyā (“repeatedly (or according to) acchariyā”). Most translators render it “spontaneously,” apparently taking the stem to be acchara = “moment”; but the commentators seem to understand the stem to be acchariya = “wonderful.”Spk-pṭ proposes an additional etymology which entails the same meaning: Vuddhippattā vā acchariyā anacchariyā; vuddhi-attho pi hi a-kāro hoti yathā asekkhā dhammā ti; “Or non-wonderful is the wonderful that has increased, for the syllable a (the negative prefix) also signifies what has increased, as in ‘qualities of a non-trainee’ (i.e., of an arahant, ‘one beyond training’).” Though the derivation is problematic, from lack of an alternative I conform to current practice and use “astounding” as the intensification.

  Spk-pṭ says: “The verses have the quality of ‘astoundingness’ because they indicate that after having fulfilled the perfections (pāramī) for four incalculables and 100,000 aeons for the sake of sharing the Dhamma with the world and its devas, now that he has achieved kingship of the Dhamma he wishes to live at ease. It is this ‘astoundingness’ that is intensified [by the negative prefix an-].”

  Von Hinüber contends that anacchariyā represents Skt *an-akṣar-ikā (see “Anacchariyā pubbe assutapubbā,” in Selected Papers, pp. 17-24), but his argument rests on the assumption that pubbe assutapubbā would be a redundancy and therefore pubbe must be taken in apposition to the preceding anacchariyā. This assumption, however, is contradicted by DN I 184,27-29, where we find pubbe … sutapubbā as one block. Interestingly, no corresponding word is to be found in the Mvu and Lalitavistara versions of the same incident.

  366 Spk: Living at ease (appossukkatā, lit. “litt
le zeal”) means lack of desire to teach. But why did his mind so incline after he had made the aspiration to Buddhahood, fulfilled the perfections, and attained omniscience? Because as he reflected, the density of the defilements of beings and the profundity of the Dhamma became manifest to him. Also, he knew that if he inclined to living at ease, Brahmā would request him to teach, and since beings esteem Brahmā, this would instill in them a desire to hear the Dhamma. On ussukka, see n. 54.

  367 Brahmā Sahampati appears in dramatic roles at key points in the Buddha’s ministry and also utters the first verse at his parinibbāna (v. 608 below). See 48:57 for his own account of how he become a prominent deity in the brahmā world. His other appearances in SN are at: 6:2, 3, 10, 12, 13; 11:17; 22:80; 47:18, 43. In the Mvu version the deity who arrives is referred to simply as Mahābrahmā, without a personal name. He comes accompanied by many other gods including Sakka.In this chapter (and elsewhere in this translation), I use “Brahmā” when the word is part of a proper name and “brahmā” when it refers more generally to a being or class of beings. Sometimes there is no hard and fast boundary between the two.

  368 Spk identifies the door to the Deathless (amatassa dvāra) with the noble path, “the door to the deathless Nibbāna.” Although the text here uses the singular dvāra, just below it has the plural dvārā.

  369 I translate pāda c in accordance with the reading in Be, Se, and Ee2, desassu bhagavā dhammam, found consistently in the Sinhalese texts. Ee1 desetu (found also in the DN and Vin parallels) seems to be a normalization influenced by the preceding prose passage. The verse is recited again by Brahmā Sahampati at v. 919. The Buddha is called the “unsurpassed caravan leader” at v. 736b; see n. 517.

  370 Spk: The eye of a Buddha (buddhacakkhu) is a name for the knowledge of the degrees of maturity in the faculties of beings (indriyaparopariyattañāṇa) and the knowledge of the dispositions and underlying tendencies of beings (āsayānusayañāṇa). The knowledge of omniscience is called the universal eye (samantacakkhu, at v. 559d). The knowledge of the three lower paths is called the Dhamma eye (or “vision of Dhamma,” dhammacakkhu). Together with the divine eye (dibbacakkhu: see 6:5, 12:70) and the fleshly eye (mamsacakkhu), these make up the “five eyes” of a Buddha.

  371 Paralokavajjabhayadassāvino. At MLDB, p. 261, the ambiguous compound is rendered “seeing fear in blame and in the other world.” This agrees well enough with the commentaries, which resolve it: paralokañ c’ eva vajjañ ca bhaya-to passanti. At Dhp 317-18, however, bhaya and vajja are treated as parallel terms, which suggests that the compound should be resolved: paraloke vajjañ c’ eva bhayañ ca passanti.

  372 Katāvakāso kho ’mhi bhagavatā dhammadesanāya. Ee1 bhagavato here must be an error. At MLDB, p. 262, in accordance with prevalent practice this phrase was rendered, “I have created the opportunity for the Blessed One to teach the Dhamma.” CPD (s.v. katāvakāsa) remarks that this construal “is both grammatically impossible and contextually unlikely.” The rendering here, based on a suggestion of VĀT, uses the active voice in place of an awkward passive construction imitative of the Pāli.

  373 Spk assigns this sutta to the fifth week after the enlightenment. The sutta is also at AN II 20-21 with an additional paragraph.

  374 Spk: The first four qualities—virtue, etc.—are both mundane and supramundane. The knowledge and vision of liberation is mundane only, for this is reviewing knowledge (paccavekkhaṇañāṇa ). On this last term, see n. 376 just below.

  375 In pāda a, Se and Ee1 read atthakāmena, also at AN II 21,23, as against Be and Ee2 attakāmena, also at AN IV 91,1. Spk glosses abhikaṅkhatā in pāda c as patthayamānena. Saram in pāda d is probably a truncated instrumental, glossed by Spk as sarantena; Norman, however, suggests it could be a ṇamul absolutive (see n. 235 above and EV II, n. to 26).

  376 This is the stock canonical description of the attainment of arahantship. The sentence beginning “He directly knew,” according to Spk, shows “the plane of reviewing” (paccavekkhaṇabhūmi ).The commentaries propose two ways of interpreting nāparam itthattāya, depending on whether the last word is taken as dative or ablative. Spk: “Now there is no development of the path again done ‘for this state’ (itthabhāvāya = itthattāya as dative), that is, for the state of the sixteen tasks or for the destruction of the defilements. (The ‘sixteen tasks’ are the four tasks of the path—full understanding, abandonment, realization, and development (as at 56:11; V 422,3-30)—taken in conjunction with each of the four supramundane paths.) Or alternatively: itthattāya = itthabhāvato (the ablative, ‘beyond thisness’). Now there is no further continuum of aggregates beyond this present continuum of aggregates. These five aggregates stand fully understood like a tree cut down at the root.”

  I take itthattāya as a dative meaning “for this state of being,” i.e., for existence in any state of being, so that the phrase conveys the same sense as the alternative “roar of liberation,” natthi dāni punabbhavo, “Now there is no renewed existence” (see 22:27 (III 29,30), etc.). Elsewhere (e.g., at DN I 17,33; MN II 130,16 foll.; AN I 63,30-64,18) itthatta signifies the human state (or perhaps the entire sensory realm) as contrasted with higher states of being. As the stem form itthatta is clearly neuter, it is difficult to accept the commentarial explanation of itthattāya as an ablative.

  377 Walking on continuous alms round (sapadānam piṇḍāya caramāno) is the ascetic practice of going for alms to each house along the route, without discriminating between those who regularly give and those who do not; see Vism 60,19-24 (Ppn 2:6), 67-68 (Ppn 2:31).

  378 Āhutim niccam paggaṇhāti. From the detailed description in Spk, this seems to have been an elaborate ceremony in which sweetened milk-rice was offered to Brahmā with accompanying invocations.

  379 Spk: “The path to Brahmā (brahmapatha) is a name for the four wholesome jhānas; the resultant jhānas are called their path of living (jīvitapatha). Ignorant of this path, why do you mumble and mutter? For the brahmās subsist on the rapturous jhānas; they do not eat curdled milk flavoured with herbs and seeds.” Usually the four brahmavihāras are called the path to the company of Brahmā, as at DN I 250,32-251,21 and MN II 207,14-208,8.

  380 Spk explains nirūpadhika in pāda b as one devoid of the upadhi of defilements, volitional formations, and sensual pleasures. Spk-pṭ: The upadhi of the aggregates is not mentioned because the aggregates still exist. Has surpassed the devas (atidevapatto). Spk: He has attained the state of a deva beyond the devas, the state of a brahmā beyond the brahmās. (There is an evident pun here on the bhikkhu’s name.) On akiñcana, “owning nothing,” see n. 73. Nourishing no other (anaññaposī). Spk: This is said because he does not maintain a wife and children, or because he will not maintain another body after the present one.

  381 Spk: What is behind (pacchā) is the past, what is in front (purattham) is the future. He has nothing behind or in front because he is devoid of desire and lust for past and future aggregates. He is smokeless (vidhūmo) with the vanishing of the smoke of anger. On the “front-behind” dichotomy, see Dhp 348, 421; Sn 949; Th 537.

  382 Spk explains visenibhūto in pāda a as “disarmed, without the army of defilements” (kilesasenāya viseno jāto). Here, however, I follow Norman’s suggestion (at GD, pp. 307-8, n. to 793) that viseni corresponds to BHS viśreṇi, meaning “without association.” At Uv 11:12, we find viseṇīkṛtvā (translated into Tibetan by an expression meaning “free from the crowd”).

  383 On oghatiṇṇam see n. 2.

  384 Spk: This verse was added by the redactors.

  385 The prose opening of this sutta is identical with that of MN No. 49, except that the latter is set at Ukkaṭṭha. The episode and verses make up the Brahmā Baka Jātaka (Ja No. 405). This brahmā’s name means “crane,” in Indian tradition regarded as a bird of cunning and deceit.

  386 Spk glosses kevalam as akaṇḍam sakalam, “unbroken, whole,” and explains the back
ground thus: In an earlier human birth this brahmā had developed the jhānas and was reborn in the Vehapphala brahmā world, a fourth jhāna plane with a life span of five hundred aeons. Thereafter he was reborn in the Subhakiṇha brahmā world, a third jhāna plane with a life span of sixty-four aeons. Next he was reborn in the Ābhassara brahmā world, a second jhāna plane with a life span of eight aeons. Then he was reborn in the first jhāna plane with a life span of one aeon. At first he knew his own past kamma and planes of rebirth, but as time passed he forgot both and adopted an eternalist view.

  387 Pāda a reads: Dvāsattati Gotama puññakammā. I translate in accordance with the paraphrase of Spk: “Master Gotama, we seventy-two men of meritorious kamma [Spk-pṭ: i.e., doers of meritorious deeds] have been reborn here through that meritorious kamma (bho Gotama mayam dvāsattati janā puññakammā [Spk-pṭ: puññakārino] tena puññakammena idha nibbattā).” Neither Spk nor Spk-pṭ offers any further clue as to what the seventy-two refers to. I read pāda c with Ee2 as having brahmapatti rather than brahmuppatti or brahmupapatti as in the other eds.Spk glosses abhijappanti in pāda d with patthenti pihenti, “yearn for, desire.” Ja III 359,25-29 employs three verbs: “Many people, with their hands joined in reverence, worship us, yearn for us, desire us (namassanti patthenti pihayanti), saying, ‘He is the Lord Brahmā, Mahābrahmā,’ and so forth. They wish, ‘Oh, that we too might become thus.’”